The work will range from significant sections of roads and sidewalk damaged by uprooted trees to minor work such as small sections of sidewalk.
SPRINGFIELD – The city, assisted by federal disaster aid, will be hiring a contractor in August for an estimated $750,000 project to repair roads, sidewalks and other public infrastructure damaged in the June 1 tornado.
The bids are due Aug. 10 and the work will begin Aug. 22, according to the Request for Bids. The project must be completed by Dec. 1, in advance of the winter.
The project was preceded by a detailed, time-consuming inventory of all public infrastructure damaged by the tornado, City Engineer Christopher M. Cignoli said Thursday.
The work will range from significant sections of roads and sidewalk damaged by uprooted trees to minor work such as small sections of sidewalk, Cignoli said.
“It’s very straight-forward work,” Cignoli said. “We need to get a lot of it done before school starts for the safety of people using the sidewalks.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund 75 percent of the cost, Cignoli said. In addition, work on main roads should be covered 100 percent under the Federal Highway Administration, he said.
The work was delayed until public roadways could be fully cleared, the inventory completed, and the sites approved, Cignoli said. The city will select the lowest responsible bid, under the solicitation for bids.
There is various work at approximately 500 locations, including road paving and repairs, sidewalks and curbing, and tree stump removals, according to the bid documents. The city estimates the project will entail 200 tons of pavement, 4,000 square yards of sidewalk, 4,000 linear feet of curbing, and 100 tree stumps.
The work will target just the section of the infrastructure that was damaged, rather than repave entire streets, he said.
An example of repairs needed is along Island Pond Road and Allen Street where there are “major sections of curbing, sidewalks, and damaged roadways,” Cignoli said.